(Box from BC game summary sheet) Friday, November 23, 2001 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA BC 1, HU 0 NON-CONFERENCE GAME ------------------------------------------------------------------------ HARVARD UNIVERSITY (ECAC) 0 0 0 - 0 (3-4-1 overall, 3-2-1 ECAC) BOSTON COLLEGE (HE) 1 0 0 - 1 (7-4-1 overall, 3-2-0 HE) Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play HU 4-10- 9 -- 23 2 - 4 0 - 0 BC 5- 7-12 -- 24 1 - 2 0 - 1 HU - Will Crothers 4- 7-12 - 23 saves/1 goal (58:45) BC - Tim Kelleher 4-10- 9 - 23 saves/0 goals (60:00) Referee - John Gravellese Assistants - James Brown, Tom Carpenito Attendance - 5868 1st Period BC1 Justin Dziama 1 (Ty Hennes, Anthony D'Arpino) 15:25 GWG Penalties None 2nd Period No Scoring Penalties HU - Smith (cross-checking) 4:16 3rd Period No Scoring HU Timeout 18:39 Penalties HU - Kolarik (slashing) 9:06 BC - Forrest (hit after whistle) 9:06 3 Stars - 1. BC - Tim Kelleher (23 saves, 0 goals) 2. HU - Will Crothers (23 saves, 1 goal) 3. BC - J.D. Forrest Harvard University: F TYLER KOLARIK, DOMINIC MOORE, TIM PETTIT Dennis Packard, Brett Nowak, Rob Flynn Rob Fried, Tom Cavanagh, Kenny Turano Liam McCarthy, Andrew Lederman, Brendan Bernakevitch D NOAH WELCH, PETER CAPOUCH Ryan Lannon, Kenny Smith Dave McCulloch, Blair Barlow G WILL CROTHERS, Dov Grumet-Morris, Ben Weiss Boston College: F TONY VOCE, RYAN SHANNON, A.J. WALKER Joe Schuman, Jeff Giuliano, Dave Spina Ned Havern, Ales Dolinar, Ryan Murphy Anthony D'Arpino, Ty Hennes, Justin Dziama D John Adams, J.D. Forrest ANDREW ALBERTS, BILL CASS Taylor Leahy, Brett Peterson G TIM KELLEHER, Matti Kaltiainen, Robbie Miller COMMENTS -------- Boston College now has won 5 games in a row after a tight, defensive 1-0 win over visiting Harvard Friday night. The game was dominated by tight checking and strong performances by both goaltenders, Tim Kelleher and Will Crothers. The lone goal came in the first period, the first of the season by BC 4th liner Justin Dziama. The Eagles were without the services of their offensive leader, Ben Eaves, out with rib problems, and Harvard was able to play a tight checking game to limit BC's offensive attempts. The game also was almost penalty-free, as ref John Gravellese put the whistle away and let them play, resulting in only one unexciting power play for BC and none for Harvard, keeping the Crimson's dangerous power play unit off the ice. The first period was dominated by the defenses, with few shots and few good opportunities for either team. BC had early attempts by Tony Voce and A.J. Walker go wide, and Andrew Lederman was unable to capitalize on a BC turnover, collecting his own rebound and shooting wide from down low. The play that followed was all in the neutral zone or along the side boards, with both teams tied up by the defenses or having offensive breakouts stopped by the mid-ice checking. In many ways it was dull hockey. Harvard played a defensive style, hoping to limit the BC speed and offense, and the Eagles were struggling to adjust to changes in the lineup with Eaves out. Finally Dave Spina and Joe Schuman broke out on a 2-on-1, but Spina's shot went right into Crothers' gut for an easy save. After that, Brett Nowak worked hard behind the BC net to come away with the puck and he swung out to the front for a backhander that sailed wide right. When the goal finally came, it was rather unexpected. BC was able to break up Harvard pressure in the middle of the BC end, and sent their 4th line away on a 3-on-1 rush. With Crimson defenders rushing back to even the odds a bit, Justin Dziama decided to fire a slap shot from above the right circle. His high shot hit Crothers' glove and bounced over and landed in the crease behind the goalie. It just sat there as everyone rushed toward the net, and Crothers was unsure where the puck was. He sat back into a butterfly sprawl to try to cover as much of the net as possible but inadvertently pushed the puck under him and back into the goal for the only score. The assists were initially announced as going to the BC defensemen who helped get the puck out of the zone but changed to Dziama's linemates in the final scoresheet. Harvard got some late pressure from their top line, with Tim Pettit and Pete Capouch having dangerous shots, but BC scrambled, held, and clutched to clear the puck and got out of the period up 1-0. The second period featured a lot of the same, with tight checking and scrambling defenses, but the offenses started to get more chances and the goaltenders started to come to the fore. Harvard carried more of the play in the middle frame, and forced Kelleher to work hard to keep the puck out of the net. Both teams had early shots go wide, then the Eagles got the only power play of the game after a Kenny Smith cross-check on Voce. But aside from one early tip of a point shot, there were no threats on the man- advantage and the game again settled into its routine. Harvard got some of its best pressure of the night around the 9 minute mark, with the top line of Moore, Pettit, and Kolarik buzzing deep in the zone and keeping the puck against weak BC defending. Kelleher made a couple of saves and dived out to clear a loose puck at one point, and a whistle finally stopped play as a jam behind the net knocked the cage over on top of Kelleher as he grabbed another puck in the crease. BC had a couple of rushes with no result, and Pettit slid down the BC slot for a backhand that Kelleher made a nice low save on. After more Crimson pressure, play was stopped to replace a cracked glass panel, and everyone took a breather. Kelleher then came up big with 3 saves in succession, gloving a Moore slapper from the left circle, then another slapper off the faceoff and a block of a spinaround rebound in the slot. The rest of the period was back to defense and Harvard was frustrated as they left the ice, knowing they had missed some chances to even the game. Harvard hadn't been playing their 4th line at all and spent a lot of energy in the second period, and BC was able to take advantage with fresher legs in the third. The Eagles also changed up their lines to try to get more offense, and it seemed to help somewhat. The Crimson got some early shots but Kelleher made solid saves, and then BC got several 2-on-1 breaks to gain some momentum. Giuliano shot rather than passing to an open winger on one and Crothers made the save, then Voce tried the opposite by holding and passing to Walker in the slot, but Crothers covered that shot into his body as well. The BC 4th liners got another chance when Dziama tried a low wraparound with a gap at the right post, only to hit the side of the net. Harvard came back with pressure, as Dom Moore worked the puck free from behind the net for a wrap attempt, then pushed the rebound out for several chances, with Kelleher making 2 big saves and covering up. A mild scrum led to matching penalties, the only other calls of the night, and the 4-on-4 was more open but resulted only in outside shots. Things opened up at this point, with Harvard pressing for a goal and BC getting counterbreak opportunities. Dolinar and Voce got good shots that Crothers made the saves on, Kelleher made a glove save after Crimson work along the boards, and BC had a 3-on-1 but missed the pass and got only a weak tip wide. Giuliano stole the puck but was unable to get a shot away. Nowak came back for Harvard, forcing a kick save, and BC got a 3-on-2 rush but shot the puck into the goalie's midsection. Heavy Harvard forechecking led to lots of pressure, and Kelleher was scrambling like mad to keep the puck out, finally making a blind backward sprawl on a wrap attempt to block the corner and keep the shutout. BC got a steal after that and got the puck to Dave Spina all alone in front, but Crothers challenged him and flashed the glove for a big save. Harvard took their timeout at that point to rest the top group, who were clearly worn out from all the time they had on the ice. Harvard worked hard to get the puck in and work for shots in the last minute, but BC defenders blocked passes and shots, with few making it to the net, and BC got several clears to get to the end with the victory. This was not the game that people expected from these two fast-skating local rivals. Instead of up-and-down flying offense, we got close-checking battles along the boards, few shots, good goaltending, and plenty of defensive work. Lots of clutching and grabbing and slowing skaters down, with the ref letting them play, and it made for a slow pace. Harvard had obviously made the decision to play cautiously and slow down the BC forecheck, and they did that successfully for much of the game. BC was also hampered in their breakouts by the absence of Eaves, who gives them a dynamic offensive capability with his vision and control (it is really obvious that he means a lot to the offense when you see the difference in the style when he is missing.) Harvard was successful with their top line, had a few chances from the second line, and got very little from their last two lines (hardly playing the 4th line at all.) BC spread their effort around more successfully, and it seemed to help in the third period with fresher legs and more drive. BC got a surprisingly good game from their 4th line, with the goal and some sharp work by D'Arpino and Hennes on the forecheck and defense. It is hard to know what to take from this game. The defenses did a good job, though if the ref had called a few of the borderline holds and trips and hooks there may have been power plays that would have opened up the offenses. One of the best things for BC is that Tim Kelleher had a strong game, very focused and controlled, with less flopping and flailing in net, and it bodes well for the rest of the year if he can keep that up. Harvard was frustrated by the inability to score, as expected, after having an offensive explosion (both ways) in their game with BU just a few days before. It is obvious, though, that Harvard will go as far as the top lines will take them, as they haven't shown a lot of depth so far. Their defense did play well, though, and Crothers played very well after coming back from illness (with one lone mistake that ended up costing them the win.) We may see other teams try to slow down the Eagles as Harvard did this game, though you have to be able to skate with BC to be able to do that, at least over the whole 60 minutes. BC is now 7-4-1, with a 5 game win streak (mostly at home), and has shown good resilience and opportunism. The defense and goaltending has certainly improved, if still thin at D, and they now face one of their toughest games, playing next Friday at UNH. They follow that with a home game on Saturday with UMass-Amherst, and a difficult road trip the week after that up at Maine. They would be happy with a 2-2 split in that set, and ecstatic if they can get points at UNH. Harvard gets to return to ECAC play next week, hosting Clarkson and St. Lawrence in a traditionally-tough weekend. If the Crimson can put these last 2 losses to Hockey East teams behind them, they still can step to the lead in the ECAC with strong performances against their North Country foes. Rick McAdoo "Volunteer reporter" A content BC fan. GO EAGLES!